2009 December archive at Grant Robertson

Archive for December, 2009

Plaudits for Question Time

December 18th, 2009

Hard on the heels of the Brownlee/Parker exchange, parliamentary question time last night received the Wellingtonista award for Best Live Performance in Wellington. I think this was only partly tounge-in-cheek as with Parliament TV, In-The-House and the real thing available to Wellingtonians (for free) it really is theatre for the masses! I happily received the award on behalf of my fellow Parliamentarians, and told the audience that I hope Lockwood will find a place for the certificate on the wall somewhere.

The folks at Wellingtonista do a great job celebrating everything Wellington on-line, and I have really enjoyed their awards night the last couple of years. You can find the full list of winners on their website.

Posted in Question Time and Wellingtonista. | 0 Comments

Special Education: this one is for George.

December 17th, 2009

Let me tell you about my friend George. He is 7 years old and he has autism. He has done really well in his couple of years at school. He has made lots of progress both in terms of his class work and his social interaction. Today George’s parents have been told there will be no ORRS (Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme) funding for next year. They are used to knockbacks in trying to get the education that is George’s right, but this is not the Christmas present they were after.

As of this week I am now officially Labour’s Spokesperson on Special Education. I am rapt, and very happy that Trevor as lead Education Spokesperson has found room for me in the Labour education tent. I look forward to working with him and Lynne Pillay our Disabilities Spokesperson in this area, for all the Georges out there.

To make it clear for those who don’t follow this area closely, this is how the Ministry of Education define Special Education

Special education is the provision of extra help, adapted programmes, learning environments, or specialised equipment or materials to support children and young people with their learning and help them participate in education. Many children and young people have special education needs. This can include learners with learning difficulties, communication, emotional or behaviour difficulties, or intellectual, sensory or physical impairments.

I mentioned Special Education in my maiden speech as an area where I thought there was a need for a thorough re-think of the whole process including from how funding is allocated, applied for, how assessments are done, allocation between funds, follow up etc. This is a difficult area and a lot of money has been allocated in recent years, but many issues remain. I should note that the current government does have a review of Special Education underway, the public consultation part of which was meant to start this year, but will now commence in 2010.

My interest in Special Education goes back to working with students with disabilities as NZUSA President (and acutally getting some wins out of Wyatt Creech on those issues). But more recentlly it has its basis in watching two families who are my friends go through all kinds of hoops and drama just to get the education for their children that is their right under law. In both cases the parents are educated professionals and they have struggled mightily with the system. That was all before I was an MP. As an MP I have dealt with a number of cases where parents and teachers alike have had to battle and battle just to keep their kids in school.

I could go on and on, but for those with an interest feel free to get in touch. I will be in contact with individuals and groups in the New Year to begin a discussion about where people think we should be going with our policy. I want to use some new methods of policy development, including in the virtual world. In the meantime, have a read of Hilary Stace’s comments on the possible impact on the national standards on children with autism. Interesting and worrying stuff.

Posted in Education. | 0 Comments

Goff on Cost of Living

December 14th, 2009

Courtesy of the great new In-The-House website here is Phil Goff’s speech in the General Debate in Parliament last week. It is a great speech that zeros in how the Government is contributing to many Kiwi families struggle with the cost of living with a pay freeze, rising power prices and their own poor sense of priorities. Phil’s speech starts at the 1.12 mark.

Posted in Labour and Cost of Living. | 0 Comments

Saturday Sport: In appreciation of the blogger

December 12th, 2009

I only saw Iain O’Brien’s wickets on the highlights package last night, but I understand his spell was a five over highlights package. This was not the battling into the wind O’Brien; the toiler punching above his weight. This was a very good spell of pace bowling. He looked to be surpassing the 140km/hr mark pretty much every ball. He was aggressive, questioning with every delivery.

I think there is one reason for his current success- confidence. O’Brien is a bit different. Not only is he NZ cricket’s only real presence in the blogsphere, he is clearly an emotional player. We have become used to the serenity and elegance of Stephen Fleming and the studiousness and seriousness of Daniel Vettori. O’Brien’s emotions may have got on top of him a bit in the past, but some success, and perhaps more importantly some appreciation and credit from the media and the public have him firing.

But it is his personality traits that are ultimately ending O’Brien’s career while he is at the top. Its a great pity for the New Zealand cricket public, desperate to see some kind of spark in the bowling attack. But for O’Brien it is no doubt the best thing. Not only will he have the family life he desires, but he will end his career on an absolute high, playing his very best cricket. In another scenario he might have a mixed series against the Aussies, play a bit next season and fade out.

This way round he and we get the brief pleasure of a player who has found his place- on the field and off, and he gets to be the most unlikely of heroes, finishing on top for once. You can’t begrudge him that.

Posted in Sport, Music and other time wasting activities. | 0 Comments

Conscience Vote: Easter Trading

December 10th, 2009

Last night Parliament debated a Private Members Bill put forward by Rotorua MP Todd McClay to allow shop trading on Easter Sunday where local authorities approve it. It failed by 62 votes to 59. I voted against it. Fundamentally I did that because we already have shops open for 361 and a half days a year and I think that is enough. We have among the most liberalised shop trading system in the world. New Zealanders already work some of the longest hours in the western world. There is no need to go further in my view.

It is a fanciful notion to say that there is choice for those shop workers who would be asked to work on those days. The reaility is that those workers are in a vulnerable position and will face pressure to work that day, robbing them of a day to spend with friends and families. I really value the days that we take collective time off. It is good for communities to have shared time for rest and relaxation, and I simply can not support something that goes against strengthening communities in that way.

Cardinal Tom Williams, who I am bound to say I dont agree with everything on, puts it this way

If profit is to take priority over people the outcome will be a society less human and more stressful for indviduals, families and the community at large.

I do accept that the current state of trading at Easter time is somewhat confusing, but this Bill is simply not the answer to clarifying it. Leaving this decision to local bodies is not responsible for central government. the reaility is local authorities would have their hands forced by the businesses who want to open. At central government level we have a role to play in setting expectations about working conditions, and thankfully Parliament was able to take that call last night.

Posted in Democracy. | Comments